Monday, 25 February 2013

Pants on Fire!

When I was in Taiwan I visited the Chiang Kai-shek
Memorial Hall in Taipei, a structure worthy of a Chinese Emperor, there to see
mementos of the late Generalissimo, including his car. When I was in
Tunisia I visited the Habib Bourgiba Mausoleum in Monastir, there to see
mementos of the country’s first president, including his silk summer
suit.

How would you choose to be
remembered, what object or personal belonging might best represent your
life? Perhaps a car, or a suit or some other item that would reflect on
your dignity or your humility? Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former president
of Yemen, is memorialising his own thirty three year rule in a new museum
created in his honour. And what do you think he has chosen as the central
and most personal exhibit, the thing he wants people to remember him by?
This is a man less ordinary. He does not want anything as ordinary as a
car or a suit. He has chosen, rather, a pair of his scorched
underpants. Yes it’s true – Ali, Ali, Pants on Fire!

His singed white pants, along
with a pair of torn trousers, is the central display in the new museum, set up in
a wing of the Saleh Mosque in Sanaa, the capital. The torn and burnt
clothing is a reminder of the bomb blast that almost killed the ex-president
during the 2011 rising against his autocratic rule. Although not yet open
to the public, the news of Ali Saleh’s risible narcissism has spread.

Although still a powerful figure
in Yemeni politics, he is seemingly wholly unaware just how ridiculous this
makes him look, a clear comment on the blind and humourless vanity of certain
politicians. Or perhaps it’s just Arab autocrats that are at fault here.
Can you imagine Hitler, Stalin or Mao expecting the masses to be in awe
of their burnt smalls? No? I certainly can't.

I expect you have already booked
your flight to Sanaa, keen to pay your own respects to the Ali Saleh
legacy. You will be pleased to know that the museum holds a further 2000
exhibits, gifts from foreign dignitaries. There is a Christmas card from
Princess Anne that you might want to see. Just look for the section
marked “Spain, Portugal and Hungari” [sic]. I’m not sure if this means
that the said card was sent from Spain, Portugal or Hungari, or if some other
bizarre logic is at work. Perhaps the curators think that Britain is
located somewhere alongside Spain, Portugal or Hungari.

Meanwhile Hamza al-Shargabi, a
Yemeni blogger now based in New York, has set up a page on Facebook, “We are
all going to see Ali Saleh pants on fire.” I can’t wait.

6 comments:

Like the lightweight sarcasm. Britain can be easily located "somewhere alongside Spain, Portugal or Hungari", as I know someone here would wonder how long it takes to drive to Romania (from here - North Carolina!), and believe Europe was certainly located in Poland!

Yun Yi, there is a German girl I know from university, who went to stay for a time with a family in Minnesota when she was an undergraduate. I should stress that these were people of German descent. Anyway, she was asked if Hitler was still alive and if Germany is in Europe!

When looking at the bizare antics of leaders of underdeveloped, developing and banana republic nations. The depth of corruption, narcissism and ineptitude that is so prevalent in these places one has to compare that with those of our current crop of leaders in our developed nations. Close inspection tells us that we have no reason to be smug as what appears to be at first glance to be a more sophisticated and intelligent approach to matters political, social and economic are not that way at all. Day after day scandals and crises involving politicians, public sector organisations and corporate sections of industry and commerce are emerging that eclipses the worst of the banana republics shenanigans. The only sophistication that the developed nations have is the ability to put a different spin on it to make it not look like they are acting as badly as those that we decry in the third world.

About Me

Hi, I'm Ana! History is my passion -and that is not too strong a word - but I also enjoy politics, philosophy, art, literature and travel. In addition I have a deep interest in witchcraft, in all of the ancient arts. Apart from that I'm a keen sportswoman. I play lacrosse and tennis, but I love riding most of all. I have my own horse, Annette.